Artwork
Lady in Black, in a Loge, Facing Right
Lady in Black, in a Loge, Facing Right is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Mary Cassatt. It dates from 1880 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
The print presents a solitary woman seated in a theatre box, rendered in a restrained palette that emphasizes her black attire and the surrounding shadows.
Created circa 1880, *Lady in Black, in a Loge, Facing Right* is a soft‑ground etching executed on laid paper by Mary Cassatt. The American artist, who spent most of her career in France, was closely linked to the Impressionist circle and showed her work with them. The print presents a solitary woman seated in a theatre box, rendered in a restrained palette that emphasizes her black attire and the surrounding shadows.
Subject & Meaning
The figure occupies a loge, turned slightly toward the right, her gaze directed downward while she holds a delicate fan. Dressed in black, she appears absorbed in the private act of observation, a motif Cassatt often employed to explore the social spaces occupied by women in the public sphere of the late nineteenth‑century city.
Technique & Style
Cassatt employed soft‑ground etching, a method that allows the artist to draw directly onto a pliable ground before incising the plate. This approach yields subtle tonal variations and a tactile surface, giving the composition a sense of depth that suggests the dim interior of a theatre and the presence of unseen spectators beyond the immediate frame.
History & Provenance
The print emerged during Cassatt’s most productive period in France, when she was exhibiting alongside her Impressionist peers. While specific ownership records are limited, the work has been catalogued in major surveys of Cassatt’s printmaking and is held in several public collections that focus on nineteenth‑century American expatriate artists.
Artist & collection
Artist
Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker.
